As part of the programme, the Forum will host the best 400 students from top high schools and universities around the world so they can participate in the debates and brainstorming taskforces at the conference, as well as interact with world leaders and some of their sporting role models.

Doha GOALS was created under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, and has been designed by the Aspire Zone Foundation and Richard Attias & Associates.

Sheikh Faisal Al Thani, Executive Director of Doha GOALS, said: "The cornerstone of discussions in December is looking at how sport can have a positive impact on social and economic development, and it is imperative that we include the next generation in these discussions to ensure we work towards the future."

The group of 400 students comes from more than 40 academic institutions in 30 countries, including China, Turkey, India, Kenya, Brazil, USA, France, and the UK. They also include two Young Ambassadors from the UK's Youth Sport Trust, selected to work in their schools to promote the values of the Olympic legacy.

Each student was put forward by their principal or dean for consideration after displaying outstanding academic, athletic and leadership skills, and acting as role models to their class or community.

Professor Bertrand Moingeon, Deputy Dean of Executive Education and Academic Development at HEC Paris, said: "HEC Paris is honoured to be represented at Doha GOALS by our 15 talented students. The forum is an ideal platform for them to be able to express their passion and commitment to sports."

Some of the students are medal winning-athletes themselves, balancing studies, sport and community engagement. Fan Ye, former world gymnastics champion at the balance beam and now a student at the Peking University journalism school said: "My dream was to win a golden medal when I was a little girl and I am so glad that the dream came true; but I realized I had to leave the stadium one day no matter how much I loved the game.

"So I applied for university because I wanted to learn more. I am thrilled to participate in this forum as a student ambassador. I'd like to communicate with people from all over the world about the life and career track after athletes' retirement."

"This is a wonderful opportunity for aspiring young sports professionals to come together and discuss sport's use as a development tool," said Steven Bruch, a second-year MBA student from Harvard Business School. "We are really excited to take participate in this unique initiative and to witness the impressive Qatar is making in sport."

Richard Attias, co-founder of Doha GOALS, said: "I aim to create and produce platforms that inspire the next generation. These students are the future leaders who will shape the societies they live in and their role in Doha GOALS is indispensable.

"We are delighted to be able to give them a voice, and to put their hopes and concerns to world leaders, heads of business and policymakers in sport. Further, we are delighted many will be meeting their personal role models, as we gather together some of the great sporting champions of the last two decades."

Some of those champions who will be present include: athletics legend and multi-Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis; Oscar Pistorius, who will become the first ever double amputee to compete at an Olympic Games; multiple Olympic gold medallist, swimmer Mark Spitz; Rugby World Cup-winning captain, and the inspiration for the film Invictus, Francois Pienaar.

The Student Ambassadors will also create initiatives projects to address social and economic problems through sport and will deliver video presentations to promote the Doha GOALS values in their communities. The most active young men and women will have the chance to be on stage and address questions to the speakers.

EDITORS' NOTES

About Aspire Zone Foundation

Having been established in 2003 as a Sports City project, Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) today works to develop sports champions, promote healthy lifestyles, provide sports medicine services, and galvanise the sports economy of today and of the future. Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) is a pioneering international sport project, thanks to its member organisation which embraces Aspire Academy, Aspetar and Aspire logistics. All these corporate entities were unified by Emiri decree in 2008.

Located in Doha, Aspire Zone Foundation (AZF) boasts international-standard services and hosts global sports events; all of which contribute to the vibrant sports economy of Qatar. Aspire Zone is home to some of the world's finest sport amenities and services offering an impressive integration of sport, sports medicine and research, and sport education. It is a perfect setting to combine sport and leisure.

Moreover, AZF was voted the World's Leading Sports Tourism Development Project for the World Travel Awards 2011; an award that is deserved indeed. In 2011 alone, Aspire Zone was honoured with the successful hosting of high profile events, such as the opening ceremony of the AFC Asian Cup 2011, some of the tournament games, and some competitions of the regionally-renowned Arab Games.

About Richard Attias & Associates

Richard Attias & Associates is a strategic communications firm that provides private consultancy and idea initiatives. Our mission is to help leaders, corporations and nations build their global influence, catalyze innovation and lead the global exchange of ideas. Using our strategic and operational expertise, we create interactive platforms, living laboratories of human capital, and historic cultural exchanges that help foster positive change for the global community.

Some of the work that RAA has created or produced in the last year includes: New York Forum® and New York Forum® AFRICA; APEC CEO Summit in Hawaii; The New York Times Schools for Tomorrow, Energy for Tomorrow and Opportunities for Tomorrow conferences; Global Food Security Forum in Morocco; Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia; Qatar - US Business Forum in New York; Conference of Nobel Laureates; and African Securities Exchange Association Summit.

Richard Attias is a global influencer and was the exclusive producer of the World Economic Forum meetings, including the Davos Forum for 14 years and the co-founder of the Clinton Global Initiative. With offices in New York, Paris, Doha, Rabat and Beijing, the RAA mission is a "call to action" to all global leaders, by creating borderless communities, and facilitating business opportunities for growth recovery through the New York Forum Institute, a not-for-profit Foundation.

The holiday shopping season, a time when Americans flock to the malls or online to find those must-have gifts, is about to kick off. Kids are pouring over catalogs and compiling their wish lists, adults are looking at the Black Friday ads to find the best bargain, and retailers are hop...

We've come across a lot of talk about "cloud-native" apps lately. (They even have their own foundation!) Developers build these apps specifically to run on a cloud-based infrastructure, with the kind of user interface we all expect from our apps now. Cloud-native applications are scala...

Nerdio is an IT-as-a-service platform with virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) technology at its core. It is designed for IT departments that need a way to easily manage their ever-increasing workloads. Nerdio allows users to efficiently manage their complete IT environments by giving...

Reality itself is going through a digital transformation thanks to leaps in 3D rendering and the crunch-speed motion feedback data. Although the modern definition of virtual reality (VR) has been making promises for three decades, the emphasis was always on the potential. Now it’s here...

Modern organizations typically use several IT tools to monitor their applications, networks and other IT components in real time. Unfortunately, this leads to independent data islands, which creates a one-dimensional view of IT. In order to make strategic decisions, organizations need ...